The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood discusses the potential improvements in the Red Wings’ power play this morning, via a lengthy, thorough article.
Eargood discusses the Wings’ personnel changes as they apply to scoring goals on the man advantage, the potential that internal improvements may help, and he wonders aloud whether the Wings’ power play can be as good as this past year’s unit:
The Red Wings aren’t without some useful pieces, but replacing so much power play scoring is tricky business. There’s still a lot for Detroit to sort out with chemistry and roles, and we still haven’t seen this team even take the ice for a practice yet.
Setting a quiet goal for a top five unit is the kind of ambitious goal-setting that a hungry team should be doing this time of year, but putting plans into practice might reveal limitations that aren’t readily apparent. In the very same way, next season might reveal even greater performances from the Red Wings’ power play producers.
To perform at a top-five rate, Detroit probably needs big production from [Patrick] Kane, just like he labeled himself. A healthy [Dylan] Larkin could really kick the Red Wings into overdrive compared to where they left off last season. Not to be ignored, a confident top-unit quarterback — whether [Erik] Gustafsson or [Moritz] Seider — is an absolute necessity. If Detroit can get the best of those three areas, then there might be a conceivable path to a top-five unit.
It’s always important to note with offseason aspirations that every other team is trying to grow, too. The Red Wings are going to have to outpace other improvers who might be right on their heels, not just maintain their past production. If Detroit finds a way to make up its 40% power play production loss and stay around ninth place in the NHL, that alone would be a major coup. Any improvements would be monumental.
The Red Wings’ power play won’t look the same next season, but that hasn’t changed their expectations. In fact, they’ve only risen. And now it’s on Detroit to make good on its hopes.
Continued; good article, very thorough.
